Buncombe County District 2 candidate Christina G. Merrill Kelley, Republican, tells the Asheville Citizen-Times' Mark Barrett that she's continuing her fight to be seated on the Board of Commissioners. Last fall, disputed votes associated with Warren Wilson College tilted the race in favor of Emily Frost, Democrat. Although both the local and the North Carolina Board of Elections decided that those results would stand, Merrill is taking her case to Superior Court.

Republican Christina Merrill is continuing her legal challenge to results in last year’s Buncombe County commissioners race, which, so far at least, saw her narrowly miss election to a District 2 seat.

Democrat Ellen Frost was sworn in Jan. 15 to the seat Merrill seeks after a judge ruled the same day that Merrill was unlikely to prevail in her challenge and there was no reason to prevent Frost from taking office.

Merrill said this week she feels she should be sitting on the Board of Commissioners, not Frost.

“The bottom line is I won the election on Nov. 6. The current person who was seated was seated based on ballots that were invalid,” she said. ...